Warm weather had postponed the scheduled 13th season opener on Dec. 8, but the Portage Department of Parks, Recreation and Public Services said today that it is finally cold enough to maintain ice for the rink at 280 Romence Road. It will be open from 3-9 p.m. Wednesday, its first day of the season.

The rink is the area’s only outdoor refrigerated ice rink, but temperatures have to be consistently in the 30s to mid 40s for good skating ice.

“It's exciting to have something new come to the area,” said Kathy George, general manager of the hotel. “It's great for employees. It's great for the community at large. … “We're going to bring more visitors into Southwest Michigan – gaming clientele, conventions and meetings. We're just exposing more people to the great area that we're in.”

Built at a cost of $300 million, the casino opened on Aug. 5, 2009, and has been successful. Patronage from gaming fans in the region and day trips by groups who come by the busload have helped grow the 2 percent of electronic gaming revenues that FireKeepers shares with local governments from $1.9 million in 2009 to $4.8 million in 2011, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

-- Eames design discussion: Carla Atwood Hartman, the granddaughter of Charles and Ray Eames, will discuss the history of Eames furniture design at 10 a.m. today at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. A tour of Good Design: Stories from Herman Miller will follow at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum after the lecture reception.